Fall Deals

By Lona Rubenstein

Property listed with Town & Country Real Estate.

Okay, Ken Watson of Clear View Environmental writes that oil tanks and spills makes for good reading and addresses an on-going problem for many East End and Long Island homeowners. If you say so, Ken. In any case, thanks for writing.

Glad to hear from Charlene C. Cheshire, Manager/Associate Broker at Town and Country Real Estate in Westhampton Beach. Charlene writes "Things have really picked up in the Westhampton Beach area with houses that are 'priced right' getting a lot of activity. It seems that anything in the $400,000 to $600,000 are hot tickets right now, as well as anything on Dune Road in the $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 range. We look forward to the fall market season when people who have rented for the summer realize how much they love it out here. Believe it or not, even though we have just passed Labor Day, people are asking about next summer and that is great!"

And from Judi Desiderio, CEO of the same firm, in response to Realty Takes questions: Your biggest deal for the summer? Closed or in contract? Judi replied, "Striking a deal with real estate veteran Nancy McGann to spearhead our newest Southampton Village office. Nancy will also oversee our North Sea Harbor branch as we continue to expand."

"The fall season is shaping up to be one of the best in recent years," she continued. As to the market influences Judy replied, "My prediction is, the July legislation signed by the President to inject $300 billion into the national housing crisis will, in years to come, be looked at as a turning point in one of the worst national housing market downturns of our generation. The crisis is national - fortunately regionally, the effects have been primarily in the drop of the number of home sales, and while segments of the market have seen approximately 20 percent declines in prices, for the most part our local housing market has once again shown its strength and resilience. Yet another reason to invest in East End earth.

As for what's moving, Judy says that, "High, low, and anything priced well in between." And people are looking, "to an exhausting level," she ended. Realty Takes hopes you are all getting tired from business coming in to our market.

Barbara Feldman of Prestigious Properties in East Hampton writes in response to the same questions, "I have buyers in from Beverly Hills who came out here expecting to see foreclosure signs all over the place. They are convinced that they will be able to get a $4 million dollar property for $2.5 million, and no amount of education seems to be able to dissuade them from the media hype from other parts of the country." That's a tough problem. Perhaps show them the transfers? But I am sure you tried that.

Received a late, but eloquent, response from Melanie Reynolds, the oldest and fourth child of legendary broker, Norma Reynolds: "Mom was an awesome lady and taught me much in regard to humans, to standing up for what I feel is right even if I find myself, standing alone and to see through shallow values. Her favorite saying was, 'if you cannot dazzle them with brilliance; baffle them with b------.' She loved to laugh and before her death, I read her a favorite quote from George Carlin, that begins 'The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A Death! What's that, a bonus? I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way'."

For property owners interested in insurance we learn from Jennifer Davis at McCrain Insurance in Southampton that two local insurance agents recently earned their Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation. "Danielle McHeffey and Jennifer Scott of Maran Corporate Risk Associates in Southampton have been awarded their CPCU designation from The American Institute for CPCU. Those who hold the CPCU designation are among an elite group of professionals who are dedicated to serving their clients, customers and industry." Congratulations to both!

From Mark Lee Curry Real Estate, our Georgia broker and contributor, writes that thinking out of the box is paying off! "Hope ya'll are having a good summer. I have had some responses to advertising in the Hamptons. I would like to get some pricing for other ads, getting new listings and should soon have 12 properties to advertise soon. My plan is starting to come together to have enough listings to show a real presence in our coastal market. Thanks for your help."

Good for you, Mark. A model for our guys and gals who have to think of so much, be creative, provide service, and know everything about their market, to be the professionals they are.

Yes, well, East End real estate, like real estate every where nowadays, is a very strange and tough business.

Lona Rubenstein is an accomplished author residing in East Hampton. Her new book, "Getting Back in the Game: Finding the Fountain of Youth in Cyberspace" can be found at local booksellers and online at www.gettingbackinthegame.com. For more real estate news and views contact Lona at lonafirst@aol.com.